stirling-1963-vol-1/05_163

Transcription

No. 130 -- ECCLESIASTICAL MONUMENTS -- No. 130
stone was found, incorporated in the base-course of the
central buttress of the E. wall of the transept; it is now
preserved in the ground floor of the tower and is
described on pp. 125 f. It will be noted on the plan in
Fig. 50 that the S. wall of the transept, which divides
it from the sacristy, is not in its normal position, i.e. on
the line of the gable; there is, however, no evidence that
it is other than the original.
Of the presbytery only insignificant traces remain, as
shown on the plan (Fig. 50). The site of the high altar is
now railed off and within the enclosure there stands a
stone coffin which measures 6 ft. 3 in. in length and
tapers in width from 2 ft. 2 in. to 1 ft. 1 in. During the
excavations of 1864, a large slab of "coarse blue marble
or mountain limestone" ¹ was discovered in front of the
high altar; it was disturbed and partly broken, and a
brass inscription-plate had been torn off from its surface.
The fragments now preserved in the ground floor of the
tower (p. 126) presumably formed part of this slab; a
small piece of the inscription-plate is preserved in the
Smith Institute, Stirling. At a depth of 6 ft. at the same
spot an oak coffin was found containing a skull and some
large bones, while close to it was another coffin with
bones, all in very poor preservation. ² These were con-
sidered to be the remains of James III and his wife,
Margaret of Denmark, and the memorial stone now seen
on the site of the graves was placed there by command of
Queen Victoria. ³ It is known that an elaborate tomb,
which is referred to as "the Kingis lair", was erected at
Cambuskenneth on command of James IV in the
first decade of the 16th century, and to this the remains
of James III and his queen may have been removed. ⁴
The structure seems to have been largely of stone, and
was painted, but in 1508 payment was made "to the
Almayn [a Flemish or German craftsman] that suld mak
the Kingis lair in Cambuskinneth in marbill". ⁵ It seems
just possible therefore the the slab of "marble" that was
discovered during the excavations of 1864 originally
formed part of this tomb.

THE CLOISTRAL BUILDINGS. The cloister is 79 ft.
square inclusive of the walks, which average 9 ft. 3 in. in
width. The garth is enclosed by a low wall, about 2 ft.
thick, most of which has been renewed. The remains of
the benching that can still be seen in the N. walk have
already been mentioned in connection with the S. wall of
the church, against which it is backed. At the E. end of
the walk there are five graves; two of them retain cover-
stones, one of which bears an incised cross with a stepped
base and a decorated head of 13th- or 14th-century type.
The sides of the three graves that lack cover-stones
appear to be formed of stone slabs set on edge. The E.
range, which is about 32 ft. 6 in. in breadth over all,
continues the line of the S. transept, with which its
northernmost compartment, the sacristy, communicates.
This sacristy measures 22 ft. by 8 ft. 6 in., and is
adjoined by the slype, which is 7 ft. wide. Next again to
the slype is the chapter-house, a square room measuring
21 ft. each way; it has never been enlarged, but the W.
door has been altered and contracted, and a second door
has been inserted in the E. wall. The base of the central
pillar remains in situ; it is octagonal developed from the
square, and on top of it there rests half of a tas-de-charge
wrought with plain ribs for a vaulted roof. The surviving
base of a vaulting-shaft in the SE. corner indicates
that the vaulting of the chapter-house was divided by
transverse ribs into four square severies, each subdivided
into cells by diagonal and tierceron ribs. It is interesting
to note that this base rests on part of a re-used grave-slab,
apparently in situ, which formerly showed the hilt and
part of the blade of a sword of early mediaeval type. ⁶ The
hilt potion has now disappeared, but the surviving
fragment seems to be a relic of the Abbey's initial phase.
These features suggest that the chapter-house was at
some time partially reconstructed, perhaps during the
15th century. The wall-faces, which have been much
renovated, are intaken in a way which suggests that
benching formerly ran all round the room. No trace of
the day-stair survives. The S. range is enclosed by the
N. wall of the refectory, a slightly recessed stretch in the
centre of which represents the lavatorium; this is pro-
vided with a sink in the shape of a dished and channelled
stone feeding a drain which runs under the garth to
connect with the system flowing out beneath the slype.
The internal dimensions of the refectory must have
averaged about 69 ft. 4 in. by 20 ft. 9 in.; its S. wall is
strengthened by five buttresses centred 12 ft. apart, and
near its W. end a short lobby, the S. end of which is now
broken down, opens on to a spiral stair with a radius of
2 ft. 6 in. which presumably led to the pulpit. Adjacent
to this lobby, and also abutting on the E. and W. gables,
there are traces of rooms, those on the E. probably
representing kitchen premises. The W. range, assumed
to have been the cellarium, has been destroyed; it is now
merely outlined by a kerb, and its area is occupied by an
orchard.

OTHER BUILDINGS. At a distance of about 175 ft. E. of
the chapter-house there is a range of buildings (A on
Figs. 49 and 51), now largely reduced to featureless
foundations but in places standing to a height of some
4 ft., the main axis of which lies N. and S. The S. half
comprises a row of three cellars of almost equal size (18 ft.
by 14 ft. 6 in. to 15 ft.), with a small barrel-vaulted cellar
on its W. side and another cellar at its NE. corner. To the
S. part of the E. side of two narrow outshots have been
added. No dateable features survive, but the foundation
of an angle buttress on the NE. cellar, if it is contemp-
orary, would suggest a date in the 15th century. In the
SW. corner of the S. cellar a narrow wheel-stair, now
reduced to its four lowest treads, once rose to an upper
floor or floors, and in the E. wall there is a chute and about
6 ft. N. of it a drain channel. The N. half of the range con-

1 P.S.A.S., vi (1864-6), 20.
2 Mackison, op. cit., 111 f.
3 Ibid., 119.
4 Accts. L.H.T., ii (1500-4), 150, 154, 289 f., 351 ff.; iv (1507-
1513), xx.
5 Ibid., iv (1507-13), xx and 132.
6 Mackison, op. cit., pl. 4, B.

-- 128